On Thin Ice
by Brotherbearfanfic
Summary: A young adult that was going fishing has his way home turn south when a large accident happens, causing the main character, Aklark, to meet Kenai and Koda. This takes place immediately after the original Brother Bear film.
1. On My Way

The green grass beneath my feet is warm under the bright sun. I can feel the sun upon my raven-black hair. A sweet and gentle breeze gently rustles the leaves of the large trees protruding from the earth near the edge of the rock face. I look over the edge of the cliff and see the glorious river that flows beneath. It glistens under the light of day with a brilliance unlike any other. The world is peaceful and wonderful, while at the same time having much movement and activity.

Suddenly, all of that peace and wonder is interrupted as my younger brother Aujaq shouts, "Think Fast Aklark!"

Along with this warning, Aujaq chucks one of the smaller salmon from his basket at me. I barely duck, and the fish flies above my head. As soon as it clears my head, I look over the edge of the cliff to watch the fish gruesomely make a rather large splash in the river below. At this moment, I turn to look at Aujaq's troublesome smirk with a stern, serious, yet frustrated face and yell, "What were you thinking!"

Abruptly, nearly all activity in the surrounding wilderness stops in curiosity to see what the commotion was all about. Deer, Elk, and Moose all stopped grazing upon the soil, and turned their heads in the direction of the noise nearby. Chipmunks and Squirrels quickly turned their heads in wonder and marveled at the scene unfolding before their eyes.

"I thought you would catch it! After all, your name means Brown Bear! You catch them so easily!" He retorts.

"That's in the river though! I don't catch fish with my hands or my jaws!" I yell back.

"Whatever. We only have like twelve more," he replies very sarcastically.

"But now I might have to go and catch more. We were responsible for catching enough for the week, and now we're short."

"It's not that big of a deal! You just need to relax!"

 _It's bigger than what you think._

I shake my head and sigh. Even with a problem like this, we keep walking home with baskets of fish on our shoulders. Fairly soon I see the glacier that is located next to our hut. I pick up the pace. Unfortunately, Aujaq kept with me. We climb down the side of a large hill, making sure each footing was placed carefully. One slip-up, and there could be great injuries. Once we reach the bottom of the large hill, we return to our fast pace, and once again, Aujaq keeps up.

Soon enough, we are upon the mighty glacier, and we carefully tread across the vast sheet of ice. About halfway across the glacier, there is a large cracking sound. I look down to see the transparent sheet of ice have a large crack running right in between my feet.

 _It's dangerously thin._

"Tread Carefully. The ice is thin here," I tell Aujaq.

We slowly amble along towards the rest of the tribe, sticking to blurrier parts of the surface. Almost to the path leading home, the ice is visibly thin, as the sheet beneath our feet becomes as clear as the stream we had fished from.

 _There's no way to avoid thin ice now._

Steps away from the path toward home, we hear what sounds like a clap of thunder, and suddenly, the ice disappears from underneath my feet, and I am falling. I can see the extreme shock on Aujaq's face for a split second before everything goes pitch black.


	2. The Wound

I had to remove this story for a short period of time for editing and revising. I have changed some events that occur during this chapter. I hope you enjoy the updated version of chapter two, The Wound.

* * *

I Jolt upright with a large breath of air.

It all seemed to be just a bad nightmare, but the bruises and cuts on my arms and back tell me that what had happened was real.

I pant and gasp for air, and take in my new and unfamiliar surroundings.

I lie on a bed of rocks, in the middle of a very large cave.

 _This isn't where I hit the ground._

I look back, and there is a trough that leads to and stops where I lay.

 _I've been dragged here... by someone or Something._

"Hello?!" I shout, desperate to find out how I got here.

Large footsteps echoed through the cave making their source very hard to locate.

I look through the mouth of the cave into the light, and a two shadows emerge. One is tall and large-about the size of a large elder, and one is very small-about the size of a toddler.

 _Ah! People! I'm Saved!_

The shadows grow larger and larger as they grow closer, and I realize...

 _They aren't human._

I start pushing backwards further into the cave to try to escape the two creatures. The larger creature gestures for the smaller one to stay back and wait. I keep pushing even though my body is sore and broken throughout. Even with my struggling, the larger shadow grows at the same pace and grow ever closer. With every step it grow closer, more fear shoots through my entire, broken body.

The creature, which I can tell is a full grown bear, finally grows close enough that I can see its face. As it opens its mouth, about to roar, I shut my eyes tight and brace myself for an attack, but instead...

"Are you feeling any better?"

Shocked, I open my eyes in disbelief, thinking that I'm hearing things.

"Are you feeling any better?" He asks again.

Yet again, I cannot believe what I am hearing. I also cannot believe that this creature isn't mauling me to death.

After yet again, I do not respond, he turns to the smaller bear and mumbles,"He must not understand us."

To which the smaller bear responds, "Why is there a missing link? If only they would understand us. Then we could all live together. We wouldn't have to kill each other."

"I don't know, Koda." The larger bear sighed, "There has always been a lack of communication between men and us. That's just the way it is. I doubt that it will ever be figured out. Not as long as humans think that we're monsters."

 _This cannot be happening. There is no way in the world that I can understand these creatures. There's also no way that I'm still alive, after it dragged me into their den._

"Excuse me," I said as I caught their attention, "but I can understand you. I don't know how, and I don't know why, but I can."

"You can?" The larger bear asked.

"Yes. I can."

"Well then. You never answered my question. Are you feeling okay?" He asked yet again.

"I guess, " I responded.

As soon as I said that, a sharp pain erupted in the back of my head. Wincing, the cave goes dimmer than it previously was. Dizziness overcomes me, and the world is spinning. My back becomes weak, and I see the earth tilting. My back hits the powdery gravel before anything else. Milliseconds later, my head hits the Earth once more. As I lay still upon the gravel that cover the surface of the earth, I feel a large drop of blood trickle down the back of my head. Exhaustion overcomes me within seconds, almost as if my energy is spewing out of the wound on the back of my head. I lay there, unable to speak, while I hear a burbled voice that I barely recognize as the bear's. Suddenly, even their voice fades out of my mind, and all I can hear is the few small patters of my blood against the ground before the world fades from my view once more.


	3. As the Fire Burns

Authors Note:It's been a while since I have updated this story mainly because I haven't felt the creativity to do so, but here is the next chapter of On Thin Ice

All I see is darkness. Not a thought, not an idea; nothing. I can feel that the darkness is not endless, but rather engulfs my body and mind. Reaching for the light I feel is out there, I struggle against the darkness, for the place I know. For home, for friends, for family, or what's left of it, but rather, I am merely struggling for myself. For life within and without. For my heart to keep beating, and my brain to keep thinking, and to escape the grasp of death for the time being. There is a sense of urgency and panic pulsing through my veins, and this sense is the only thing keeping me struggling for life. The light blinded me, even though the darkness was within. Along with the darkness comes a mellow, young voice, and the feeling of a cold, stone wall upon my back. As my eyes adjust, the world turns into a blur, and eventually becomes clear. The two bears sit across from me, talking.

"What if he tells others about us?" said Koda, the smaller bear.

"We saved his life. It's the least he could do to not talk about us."

"But what if..."

"Stop playing the What If game, and trust me. I'll persuade him," the larger bear interrupted.

To this, Koda sighed. "Ok. I trust you."

"Thank you. Now let's see how he's doing."

Both bears get up and walk over to me, and I sit up, uncomfortably, against the smooth, stone wall of the cave. A grunt of pain escapes from me as I get adjusted to the cold wall and as my bruises and cuts erupt with pain and discomfort. Throbbing soon followed.

Not knowing that I had overheard them, the larger bear came over and asked, "Are you feeling any better?"

"Sort of..." I trailed off.

"Do you think you can walk?" He asked

With my back against the cold wall, I pushed myself up, and off of the wall. I took it slowly, one foot in front of the other. When I put my full weight on my left leg, my knee buckled, and I collapsed. With all the strength I had left, I moved back against the wall. "No", I grunted.

"Well I guess that that eliminates the option of you just walking away", he said.

"I just need to be able to tell someone."

"Speaking of telling, we need a favor from you", the large bear said.

"That is?", I replied.

"We need you to keep quiet about us. Don't tell anyone that we helped you. We can't be known in villages except from mine."

"You're from a village?"

"Yes. It's a long story." He leaned over to me and whispered, "I'll tell you when he's asleep.", he gestured toward Koda. "Now will you keep this a secret?"

"Yes. You've helped me. The least I could do is help you."

Still in a state of shock, I waited and waited until the sun had set in front of a golden backdrop. The fire was heating the cave, but the walls stayed ice cold. Slowly, Koda's eyes closed, and he was asleep soon after. I moved over to the bear and whispered, "Now that he's asleep, will you tell me your story?"

"Sure", he responded, "It started years ago on the day of my totem ceremony..."


End file.
